IS THE RESURRECTION REALLY ESSENTIAL?

 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:17 (NIV)

                We just celebrated Easter, Resurrection Sunday. It is the pivotal event of our faith. Everything we believe about Jesus Christ hinges on the truth of the resurrection. If it is a myth as some say, or a spiritual fabrication, then, as Paul says, our faith is useless. Even worse, it is destructive. So, do we have to believe in a real, physical resurrection of Jesus?

                There have been those in our lifetime who want to either negate or modify the resurrection of Jesus. Some want to deny that it ever happened at all. Others say that the disciples wanted Jesus to be raised so much that they believed it, even though it was not true. Still others say that the resurrection was a later addition to the faith to give it credibility. If any of these theories are true, then Christianity crumbles in an irredeemable heap of rubble.

                The resurrection of Jesus is essential to our faith. But can we really trust that it is true? I believe there is evidence enough to believe in the reality of the resurrection for those who honestly look at it.

                The first piece of evidence that must be examined is the empty tomb. No one ever disputed the reality that the tomb was empty. The question was, how did it get empty? The Pharisees claimed that the disciples came at night and stole the body so that they could claim that Jesus was raised from the dead. There are several reasons why this doesn’t hold water. First and foremost, the tomb was guarded by soldiers. The disciples could not have rolled away the stone and taken the body without the soldiers stopping them. The eyewitness accounts even confirm that the soldiers themselves were witnesses to the resurrection. In addition, the disciples would not have given their lives to such a lie. They all went to their death holding on tenaciously to the truth of the resurrection.

                The idea that the resurrection is a product of the wishful thinking of the disciples also doesn’t hold water. Even though Jesus predicted that He would rise from the dead on the third day, the disciples didn’t believe it when it happened. They were true skeptics, needing tangible proof that Jesus was indeed alive. They received that proof when He appeared to them on several occasions.

                That brings us to the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul summarizes it best in 1 Corinthians 15.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NIV)

                For a period of 40 days after the resurrection Jesus appeared to various people at various times and places. He gave tangible proof that he was alive by allowing people to touch Him and by eating food in their presence.

                There are many other proofs of the resurrection that we could explore in depth. The truth that the Jews of all people would never attribute deity to a human being. The Jews believed in a general resurrection at the end of time, but not an individual resurrection. The birth of the Church alone demonstrates the reality and power of the resurrection.

                Bottom-line, the resurrection is essential to our faith. We dare not modify it or deny it. Without it we have nothing to hold onto. Without the resurrection all of Jesus’ teaching become moot. His claim to forgive sins is meaningless unless He really did raise from the death. His claim to be one with the Father is meaningless unless He was raised from the dead. There is no Christianity without a real life, resurrected Jesus. All other theories fall woefully short and lead us to despair instead of hope.

                Every person must look at the evidence for themselves and decide what they will do with it. But only those who affirm the reality of the resurrection can truly claim the name Christian.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20 (NIV)